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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25991296">Pen Island</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetaDash/pseuds/MetaDash'>MetaDash</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, written on a whim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:42:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,584</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25991296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetaDash/pseuds/MetaDash</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As it turns out, Bernadetta and Nina have a shared interest in writing stories, despite being night and day. One thing leads to another, and it leads to them collaborating...just not in the way both were thinking. One-shot. References plot elements from FE14 and FE16 but nothing major. Crack. This one's for you, FE Twitter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pen Island</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Okay for this challenge we'll use…."</p><p>
  <em>Don'tsayBerniedon'tsayBerniedon'tsayBernie-</em>
</p><p>"Uhhh….Myrrh…..Ares….Hinoka….and Leila!"</p><p>
  <em>YES!</em>
</p><p>Askr was a place Bernadetta Von Varley still hadn't gotten used to. She squeaked at the very idea of her, a hero, a hero worth summoning at that. She was afraid of nearly everyone there, and seeing that the Flame Emperor and the Death Knight were walking around couldn't even give her the silver lining of, <em>well it's not like Fodlan!</em></p><p>What good was it that she was away from her father when she still went into a panic attack whenever Jaffar just looked in her general direction!</p><p>But for now, she didn't have to fight, and that was good enough. So she retreated into the forest, taking a moment to make sure she was alone.</p><p>"Phew….peace." Bernadetta smiled. "Hopefully the summoner doesn't find me for a couple of hours….." And she got to work on her most treasured hobby - writing stories.</p><p>"Hehehehehehe…"</p><p>Or she would have, if she didn't hear the low giggling of someone else. Instantly Bernadetta's anxious mind feared the worst. Was it Sharena? Was it Peri? Goddess above, was it <em>Selkie</em>? She had to know. So she got off her stump, carefully looked through the bushes and….</p><p>"Oh yes….this scene is perfect!"</p><p>
  <em>Nina?</em>
</p><p>Indeed, the pigtailed thief was indulging in some writing in her own. The only difference being, the girl looked giddy as she modelled some dolls in front of her. What could it be?</p><p>"U-Um…..what are you doing?"</p><p>Instantly Bernadetta regretted even saying that, because Nina turned around with the harshest glare she had seen. Normally Nina was carefree and lost in pleasant daydreams, but here….quite the opposite. <em>Run Bernie Run!</em></p><p>"Are you spying on me?!"</p><p>"N-No! I'm not! I….I was just trying to write!"</p><p>Nina blinked. "Write? You? But you're….you're….."</p><p>"I know…." Bernadetta rubbed the back of her head. "But I can do more than just shoot stuff with my bow."</p><p>"I was gonna say you're a weirdo that's always screaming."</p><p>Bernadetta instantly sulked.</p><p>"Buuuuut…." Carefully, Nina hid her pages. "….I won't tell anyone if you won't. This is KINDA my secret hobby, and I'd die of embarrassment if people knew! You'd better not tell my dad!"</p><p>"Eek! W-Who's your dad again?"</p><p>"Niles."</p><p><em>Not him!</em> Bernadetta turned white as a sheet. The other archer that was always smiling, making suggestive comments to friend and foe alike….<em>wait, he's old enough to be a dad?</em></p><p>"Are you listening?" Nina threatened.</p><p>"YesyesI'msorry!" Bernie stepped back. "Please don't tell people about my secret! I come here to be alone, not have all these…these…..heroes harass me!"</p><p>Nina peeked over. "Whatcha working on, anyways?"<br/>"I-I won't tell! B-Besides…..it's n-not like…you'll t-tell me…."</p><p><em>Hmmmmmmmm… </em>Nina looked back at her notes. Then at Bernie. <em>She goes to some military school, right? Plenty of eyecandy there….I'll need to test her first.</em></p><p>"Say, Bernadetta…..you don't like doing all the boring stuff the summoner wants either, huh?"</p><p>"W-Well…..he's not mean but…..it's just s-scary fighting."</p><p>"Would you say your mind…..<em>wanders</em> out there?" Nina leaned in. Bernie stepped back.</p><p>"Um…..w-well….a little….?"</p><p>The resulting grin made Bernadetta shriek.</p><hr/><p>But after that, the two would often meet up in the same spot in the middle of the forest, working on their own stuff. Bernadetta didn't dare to peek at whatever Nina was doing, but Nina wouldn't rest until she figured the young noble out.</p><p>"Bernie, I've got a writing question."</p><p>"B-Bernie?" Blushing, the purple-haired archer turned on her stump. "Only Dorothea and Petra have called me t-that….but….i-if you want to call me that too…"</p><p>"Oh stop babbling," Nina demanded. "What do you do when you need to write some dialogue? How do you make it sound…convincing?"</p><p>"Oh!" This got Bernadetta to lighten up a bit. "Well, I just think about what they sound like and try to put the words in their voices."<br/>"Okay, uhhh…write a sentence for Prince Sigurd."</p><p>"Huh?! Why him?"</p><p>Nina clicked her tongue. "He's noble and majestic. And handsome! I want to do him justice in this one scene I'm writing for my diary. I mean journal! Yeah….<em>journal</em>…."</p><p>Bernadetta thought carefully. The blue-haired man was kind and just, and he actually helped her get up on her horse a few times when the summoner put them on the same team. So she imagined his voice and wrote:</p><p>
  <strong>"Are you well, miss? I'll ride ahead to make sure the way is clear."</strong>
</p><p>"BO-RING!"</p><p>"W-What?!"</p><p>"There is ZERO personality in this sentence Bernie! There's like 50 different handsome men that could say this. Who does he interact with?"</p><p>"Hmmm…..well, I guess S-Seliph would be one."</p><p>"His <em>son</em>?" Now Nina had broken out into a blush. "Bernie, that's….that's…..something the critics wouldn't understand. But I admire your bold choice."</p><p>"Um, thanks? Besides him he's close to Prince Quan, right?"</p><p>Nina decided that could work. So she offered to write the next line.</p><p>
  <strong>"Ah, Quan. You're looking fair today. The sun is bright, isn't it? Riding together, like old times….it reminds me of fonder days, my friend."</strong>
</p><p>Bernie nodded. "That sounds good. Hey…..you're good at this, Nina. Do you write about characters often?"</p><p>"That's my specialty!" Nina winked. "My secret? I just try to imagine the two together….doing stuff. Y'know like…..watching the sunset."</p><p>"Yeah that's nice."</p><p>"Or resting after an intense sparring match."</p><p>"Um…..sure."</p><p>"Or…." Nina's eyes darted back and forth. She cleared her throat. "Showing the true bond friends have. Y'know….what I mean?"</p><p><em>Oh Sothis…..she…she thinks of me as her friend? Oh…..m-maybe….this could work. </em>"Y-Yeah. Friends."</p><p><em>Ohhhhh Nina, you've finally found her! Someone just like you! But I need one more final test</em>. "I'm GLAD you see it my way, Bernadetta."</p><hr/><p>Now both girls were starting to enjoy their arrangement. They kept their shared hobby a secret from the rest of the Order, and whenever they weren't preoccupied, they got to writing alongside each other. Bernadetta began to wonder what Nina was working on.</p><p>"Um…..Nina?" she whispered one day when the Order was in the Mess Hall. "I was just thinking…..why do you use dolls for….y'know?"</p><p>Nina was watching Finn and Osian before she blinked back to reality. "Huh? Oh….uh…..well, how can you have dramatic scenes if you can't picture the actors?"</p><p>"Oh you…." <em>She writes action scenes like me!</em> "…that's really cool. I never thought to use props. Do they pose in the ways you need?"</p><p>"Well I'm trying to work on better models…." Nina showed the inside of her bag off. "These dolls really need some paint, and features. Like how can Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector have their dramatic scene together when I have hunks of wood?"</p><p>"Oh those two! They're a good pair."</p><p>Nina gulped. "Y-Yeah….um….what other g-good pairs do you think…..about…..f-for stories?" Again her eyes darted back and forth.</p><p>"Let's see…..someone like Gordin and Draug! He's so big, but he's so small. Reminds me a lot of Raphael and Ignatz, actually."</p><p><em>BIG AND SMALL! This girl is on another level…..</em> Nina wiped her now sweating face. "Tell me about the boys at Garreg Mach. I mean, there's more of them, right?"</p><p>"Huh?" Bernadetta looked uneasy. "Yeah…..you've met Hubert and Ferdinand… ….but I'm just glad Felix isn't here. He's scary!"</p><p>"Scary?"</p><p>"Yeah, he's tough and is always training. But his glare! It's…..it makes me wanna run."</p><p>"He have any…..friends?"</p><p>"Well, he hangs out with Sylvain, Dimitri, and Ingrid." Bernadetta gestured to all three - Dimitri talking with Marth, Ingrid eating, and Sylvain trying to hit on Norne. "But all I really know is that he keeps calling Dimitri a boar, for some reason."</p><p>Nina gasped. "How <em>scandalous</em>. So those two have tension….."</p><p>"I guess? Dimitri doesn't hate him or anything, so I wonder why he lets Felix insult him."</p><p>Already Nina was penning a scene in her head. "Bernie….have you imagined him having a long conversation about it? Ending with…..possibly a new development for their friendship?"</p><p>"Sometimes." Bernadetta was not getting the implication. "Maybe he'd learn to call him Dimitri."</p><p>"YES!" Nina shouted loudly, before covering her mouth and avoiding confused stares. "I like how you think. Aw Bernie, the people would never understand our talents. Sigh….the curse of being a writer."</p><p>"How did you get into it, Nina?" the noble wondered. "I mean, I just spent hours in my room so I had a lot of time….y'know?"</p><p>"Yeah. I was stuck in a Deeprealm after my dad dropped me off. I had WAY too much time."</p><p>"….what?"</p><hr/><p>"What? Tied you to a <em>chair</em>?"</p><p>Today the two budding writers were having a brainstorming session in the woods as usual, by a nice cozy campfire. Now both felt at ease talking about their own experiences.</p><p>"Y-Yeah…..b-but I guess it's better than being alone in some dimension, right?"</p><p>Nina shrugged. "At least I can shoot arrows at my dad for fun. You've probably never gotten the chance to get even with yours."</p><p>"Get <em>even?</em> Oh Nina, can't we talk about something else?"</p><p>"You are ABSOLUTELY right!" she took out a new set of dolls, ones with clothing and little tuffs for hair. "It took a lot of bargaining with Anna, but I got more materials to make my props even better! Why don't we write a scene together?"</p><p>"Ohhhh…..sure?" Bernadetta looked at the improved quality of the props. "Wait…that's supposed to be…..Prince Alfonse and the Mysterious Man?"</p><p>"Who?" Nina double checked the doll. "It's….<em>Bruno</em>, Bernie. You know? The guy that keeps a mask on despite everyone KINDA knowing who he is?"</p><p>"What! Next you're gonna tell me that Sirius is actually Camus with a mask!"</p><p>"Yeahhhhhhhhh uh…..anyways, these two have history! Alfonse wants the friend he knew back. Bruno is all aloof and avoiding. We need to pitch them reconciling."</p><p>So the two got to work. Bernie controlled the Alfonse doll while Nina controlled the Bruno doll. They decided to build the scene off each other's lines.</p><p>
  <strong>"Bruno, why do you keep avoiding me? All the times we've spent, laughing and being happy….does it mean nothing to you?"</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>"I have my reasons, Alfonse. You wouldn't understand."</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>"So tell me then! I am not a child!"</strong>
</p><p>Nina quickly scribbled some notes.</p><p>
  <strong>"The truth…might too much for you. I don't want to put our friendship in danger. Let your memory of it be the only proof that it was once a reality."</strong>
</p><p>Bernadetta crossed out some words.</p><p>
  <strong>"Never! I've lost my father, I can't lose you too!"</strong>
</p><p>Now both girls looked at each other. They were clearly in sync, and Nina took the signal to bring the scene home.</p><p>
  <strong>"Very well. The truth is…I'm in love with you, Alfonse."</strong>
</p><p>"Um…..huh?" Bernadetta blinked.</p><p>"<strong>Every waking day I've thought about you. But these thoughts were poison, making me believe in something that could never be! We're too different! And perhaps….I feared you would not feel the same way."</strong></p><p>Now getting excited, Nina grabbed the other doll from Bernie's hands.</p><p>
  <strong>"You fool! To think I could not love you in the same way! Your fears are unwarranted."</strong>
</p><p>"Nina…."</p><p>
  <strong>"Then kiss me, Alfonse. Kiss me, under the shade of the moonlight!"</strong>
</p><p>"NINA!" Bernadetta snapped her back to reality. "What…what are you doing? That wasn't how I'd thought how the scene would go!"</p><p>"Huh?!" A deep blush crept on Nina's face. "Bernadetta, we have to establish proper pacing! If they have relations in chapter 1, that throws the whole thing off! Slowly, we build to that!"</p><p>"R-R-RELATIONS?!" Now the same blush came on Bernadetta's face. "W-what are you TALKING about?! I thought these two were just becoming friends again!"</p><p>"Yes! ….and then becoming more than friends! You're being weird, Bernie, you know how this works!"</p><p>"I do?"</p><p>Nina huffed. "Stop playing dumb. It's just us! You and I both know we write stuff about a guy and….another guy…..maybe another guy…max 4…it's our art! It's our way of life! IT'S WHO WE ARE!"</p><p>This made absolutely no sense to the other archer. This was what Nina was writing about all this time? About people they saw on a regular <em>basis</em>?</p><p>"N-Nina…how…..how much more material do you have?"</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>CLICK</strong>
</p><p>Nina removed the key from her room's closet door and pulled out a large chest. Then she pulled out another key.</p><p>
  <strong>CLICK</strong>
</p><p>And opened the chest up.</p><p>"See?! We both write a lot!"</p><p>Bernadetta's eyes were seeing volumes and volumes of Nina's guyfiction, all in stacks and stacks of paper. Her hand shook as she took out a random page. Eldigan and Sigurd. She tried another. Ike and Ranulf. Another led to Roy and Wolt. Hubert and Ferdinand. Ephraim and Lyon.</p><p>"Nina…..I…thought…..we were just writing regular stories!"</p><p>"Regular?!" Nina snatched part of a Xander/Ryoma story from her hand. "Are you implying this kinda love is NOT normal?! Besides, you passed the tests! You gave off hints!"</p><p>"I DID?!" stammered Bernadetta. "And it's not w-weird, it's just….we <em>see</em> these people!"</p><p>"So?!" Now Nina's bravado was cracking. "That's why you keep it a secret!"</p><p>"Can you really write all this for….." Another page. "….<em>Lukas and Clive</em> and talk to them as if you didn't do that? It's wrong!"</p><p>"It's just me putting my imagination to paper! It's a creative outlet!" Embarrassed, Nina closed the chest. "….what do you want me to say, Bernie? I don't know why I think like this, I just do!"</p><p>"Well….maybe you can try writing a story that's not romance, like me!" Bernadetta sighed. "I'm sorry for not being clearer. I thought I found someone that shares what I love to do."</p><p>"Bernie….." Nina sighed back. "….you're still my friend, okay? But what do we do? Try to write like the other to gain a fresh perspective and help our writing styles?"</p><p>This time Bernadetta smiled.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>FLAP FLAP FLAP. FLAP FLAP FLAP.</strong>
</p><p>"Hoo!" Feh the owl landed on her perch. "Greetings, heroes! Today we have a new addition to our library! Bernadetta and Nina have both penned their own stories!"</p><p>"Step right up, step right up!" Anna was handing copies of them out. "Only 50 gold pieces each! Proceeds to go to donating books to Askr's libraries."</p><p>"Don't forget to leave feedback for our budding authors!" Feh exclaimed. "They want input!"</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ONE WEEK LATER</strong>
</p><hr/><p>"Well…..are you ready, Nina?"</p><p>The two had a whole bag of review letters to sort through, but they decided to do it together in the woods, their usual spot.</p><p>"Ready! Here goes….."</p><p>They both took one envelope - red marked for Bernadetta's story, blue marked for Nina's - and opened them.</p><p>
  <em>"This story is rather creative, but it's marred by rather nonsensical turns. At one point a giant pink elephant with a ballista on its back has a fist fight with a drunken man. What does that even mean?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I loved the chemistry between the two leads, but the romantic turn was sudden and rather jarring. I think Bernadetta needs to read an anatomy book."</em>
</p><p>The two looked at each other.</p><p>"Are YOU thinking what I'm thinking, Bernie?"</p><p>"We don't read the rest of this bag, pretend we did, and just write in private on our own time?"</p><p>"Hell yeah, bestie!"</p><p>Bernadetta and Nina both shared a cheerful giggle before picking up their pens.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>FIN</strong>
</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was unexpected, wasn't it? It was inspired PURELY by me tweeting that Bernadetta and Nina shared the same VA in Japanese (Ayumi Tsuji), which I found out watching a Japanese Heroes stream honoring the series and its 30 years, of which she was a guest. Inspiration comes in the strangest of places, as they say.</p><p>Thanks for reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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